Gravitational Pull
by Echo-Phoenix
Summary: BB-8 has gone missing. Rey did not succeed in defeating Kylo. Rey has been taken prisoner on the imperial Star Destroyer and sees no way out. Kylo Ren is determined to get the map to his uncle. The system that allows lightspeed was destroyed in their escape so all the subjects on the Star Destoryer have a lot of time to get to know eachother. Reylo, slight FinnPoe. Every Sunday!
1. Gravitational Pull

Rey walked down some steps and along a stone corridor. It felt colder down there than upstairs where the atmosphere was warm and welcoming as opposed to the damp walls that encased the dimly lit corridor. The sound of the spherical droid struggling to get down the dented stairs behind Rey sounded almost distant. As if she was hearing it from behind a wall of glass.

Rey came to an archway which was the entrance to a room significantly cluttered with objects ranging from big wooden crates balanced haphazardly on top one another to small models of Imperial AT-AT's that would have once belonged to a small child. The objects were probably of some value and were being held in storage for what looked like years judging from the thick layer of dust that blanketed most of them.

Rey stepped into the room. Although she was intrigued by the origins of most of the objects she ignored them all and treaded cautiously as she stepped deeper into the room, she walked subconsciously to a wooden box that was mounted atop a crate. She wiped her hand across the lid of the box expecting to see an emblem of the resistance or the First Order, something that would give some explanation of where this could have come from, but there was nothing. She looked at the small chest tentatively. Finally reached her final decision and opened it.

Inside lay an old silver object with wires poking out of it. Rey reached a delicate hand inside, under her nails were black with dirt lodged under them, she did not care; she had been through worse on Jakku.

As soon as her fingertips touched the cold metal the room around her faded and was replaced with a dark corridor that was lit dimly with white lights. The corridor did not look like the one she had walked down to reach the damp storage cupboard, but was modern with a slick black floor. The corridor was an unusual shape, angled like a triangle. Rey stood up abruptly, all remnants of the room she had been in before had disappeared, she could no longer hear the beeping of the concerned BB-8 unit but now she could hear only the sound of her own rattling breaths. She began to jog down the corridor but did not get far since the scene changed again. This time it was as if the world had fallen on its side taking Rey with it.

Rey fell ungracefully onto her side and hit cold, uneven rock. She felt a sharp pain in her head but ignored it. She began to climb to her feet when she noticed that she was not alone, in the desolate landscape of an unknown planet there was a cloaked figure who, unaware that she was watching, reached out a metal, skeletal hand and placed it on a blue and white R2 unit that looked like it was from the Imperial days. When the hand made contact with the droid the previously blue light flashed red. The scene changed once more.

Rey had regained her footing and looked around, her hair felt damp as rain battered her skin. There were puddles and bodies all around her. Clouds consumed the sky and rain made her vision go blurry. A dark figure stood in front of her for a second before she heard an electrical crackling sound and a red Lightsaber plunged straight through the man who collapsed on the floor. Several cloaked black figures stood out from the equally dark landscape behind them. The only light was from the red buzzing Lightsaber. She stumbled backwards as the tall, thin figure holding the weapon turned to face her, he lunged forward and Rey shut her eyes expecting to feel a red hot pain as he impaled her.

But the pain did not come instead the goose bumps that riddled her skin disappeared when they faced the harsh, unforgiving Jakku sun. She opened her eyes but almost immediately shut them, she squinted as she waited for her eyes to adjust. When they did, it was not a strange vision she saw but a familiar one, a memory that she had gone over many times in her head. A memory she had tried to forget.

A young girl stood looking up at a ship flying away, out of the planets atmosphere. A rough hand held the girls arm as hot tears ran down her face as she yelled at the aircraft " _Come back_!". The ship was quickly travelling out of sight, the only traces of it ever being there was the young girl, maybe six years old with brown hair in three messy buns. Her small hand reached out as if maybe if she could grab the ship and bring it back to her. The ship thrust into light speed and disappeared. The girl cried louder. "Be quiet girl." A deep voice said from beside her. The girl did not stop crying out. The scene changed once again.

Rey was in a cold frosty forest. Snow coated the ground and the tall trees. It was dark and foreboding. Rey stumbled forward a few steps until she heard a voice call her name "Rey!". It was a voice of a man, she frowned slightly and started to run forwards. A twig cracked beneath her foot and she stopped abruptly as a tall dark figure immerged from the darkness brandishing a red Lightsaber, the same one she had seen a few moments earlier being thrust through a man. She stumbled backwards as he walked towards her, totally at ease. There was no implication of where he had come from but that did not matter now as he stood above her with the buzzing Lightsaber. She tripped and fell onto the cold hard stone floor.

As she looked around she was no longer in a dark, unforgiving forest but now back in the dimly lit hallway. As she looked around Maz Kanata was walking towards her quickly, her footsteps echoed around the corridor. Rey looked at the small humanoid.

"I shouldn't have gone in there." Rey said in a stricken voice. She could feel beads of sweat start to slip down her temples. Maz was only about three feet away from her now and her big calculating eyes were boring into hers, it gave her the sensation of being X-rayed.

"That Lightsaber was Luke's and his fathers before him, and now it calls to you." Maz was not questioning Rey but stating a point. Rey could feel her heart still thundering in her chest, her brain was trying to make sense of the visions that she had just witnessed.

"I have to get back to Jakku." Rey said quickly. She just wanted a way out of this. An escape. She did not want to be a part of whatever this was. Maz looked at Rey with a pitying smile. The small humanoid reached up and moved her thick glass goggles up and away from her eyes. They were small and truly conveyed her old age.

"Han told me." Maz said in a wise voice as she took Rey's small, rough hand in her own wrinkly one. "Dear child I can see it in your eyes, whoever you are waiting for back on Jakku… They are never coming back." Maz said with pity in her voice. Rey could feel tears begin to sting her eyes and she could do nothing about a stray one that began to fall down her cheek. "But there is someone who still could." Maz said knowingly.

"Luke." Rey said with slight awe in her tone.

"The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force, it moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes. Feel it." Rey did as the small humanoid commanded and only opened them again when she heard Maz speak again. "The light. It's always been here. It will guide you. The saber. Take it."

Rey was about to accept the offer but then she remembered the vision and an indescribable fear seeped into her very being. She shook her head and stood up quickly, she quickly wiped away her tears.

"I'm never touching that thing again. I don't want any part of this." Rey said in a strong stubborn voice.

(===||===)

Rey ran through the forest and did not stop until she felt as though she was a safe distance away from the bar.

The trees acted like a roof above her and as she looked up she slowed into a walk. She was playing the recollections from the lightsabre over in her head and wondering subconsciously who the figure in the metal mask was. She could not remember much about it now as the memories slowly drifted out of her reach. She stopped in a clearing to catch her breath. She could see the castle through the trees but only just. She clutched her side holding a stitch for a second before she looked up at the sound of frantic beeping behind her.

"What are you doing?" Rey questioned the BB unit. BB8 responded in a series of beeps and mechanical noises.

Rey crouched down beside the orange and white droid, it's antenna was bent just like when they had first met. She looked into his black camera, and felt, although she had known the droid for less that forty-eight hours it was as if she had known him her whole life and it saddened her that he could not convey his feelings as acutely as a human.

"You have to turn back… I'm leaving." She could feel a fresh wave of tears try to break free as the little droid spun his head from side to side as if trying to shake his head. "You have to go back you're too important… They'll help you…"

She did not finish her sentence as she heard a humming of aircraft passing above them. She looked up to see the black and red First Order Tie Fighters and big ships that evidently held Stormtroopers in. _Stormtroopers…_ She remembered her friend, Finn, the ex-Stormtrooper. She felt her stomach lurch at the thought of Han, Chewie and Finn back at the castle. She began to run back in the direction she had ran away from in the first place, but this time with even more urgency.

Twigs and leaves cracked under her feet as she climbed up a steep incline. As she looked on she saw the impressive castle and statue of Maz Kanata begin crumble under the heavy fire of Tie Fighters. The statue version of Maz's head began to tumble off and hit the colourful flags around the courtyard. As it crumbled Stormtroopers were marching out of the big ships, hundreds of them. As Rey looked on she saw a black, bat like ship begin to descend, it's wings folding up by its sides. As she watched it touch down smoothly the back hatch opened and one solitary masked, black cloaked figure stepped out of it. Rey felt like a hole had opened in her stomach. She watched from the safety of the trees as the figure walked into the rubble of the castle.

Rey looked around the wreckage of the once bustling waterhole now in absolute chaos. She was torn as to whether she should enter the fray and possibly meet the dark foreboding figure but save her friends or to stay here and shoot Stormtroopers from afar. She decided that staying here and at the very least injuring Stormtroopers was more use than getting herself killed.

She was so deep in thought that it was at the last minute that she noticed a Stormtrooper walking in her direction. Rey raised her arm and pointed the blaster at the polished armour. She pulled the trigger but there was no flash of light coming from her gun. The Stormtrooper turned and faced her he yelled something that was muffled by his mask. She fiddled around with some switches until she heard a click. She clutched her arm close to her chest as a flash of red light missed her by inches. She held the blaster out again and shot a couple of times this time she hit her target. The Stormtrooper fell to the ground in a crumpled pile of white armour.

She looked down at BB8 who held out a small blowtorch to imitate a thumbs up. She smiled down at the little droid for a second. She looked up again and saw that the Stormtrooper had contacted his compatriots who were making their way over in her direction. She shot a couple of times and hit her mark once or twice but knowing that she would be overwhelmed she darted back into the depths of the forest. A red shot of light singed a tree where she had been a few seconds earlier.

(===||===)

Kylo Ren was standing on a fallen piece of wall, surveying the defeat of the Humanoids and Aliens alike. He watched as many of them held up their arms and dropped their weapons. He watched as the Tie Fighters now swooped around skilfully destroying airships. Kylo stood motionless as many of the Aliens sent him glances of fear and disgust. He watched on and did nothing.

A Stormtrooper made his way over to Knight of Ren to report.

"We spotted a droid heading west, with a _girl_." The Stormtrooper pointed in the direction of the forest. Kylo said nothing but looked in the indicated direction. He gave one last fleeting glance at the chaos that was ensuing. He gave a brisk nod to the Stormtrooper and began to make his way to the forest. He was intrigued by this girl who had evaded the Order many times. But not again. Kylo had almost forgotten about the droid when he reached the border of the forest.

(===||===)

Rey crouched down by a mossy log, she glanced around frequently checking if they were being followed. BB8 was beside her watching her, waiting for her to talk.

"Keep going, stay out of sight, I'll try and fight them off." A querulous beeping prompted a brave, defiant reply from her: "I hope so too."

The BB unit began to roll past her but he turned his spherical head to take one last glance at her. "Go!" She said with an urgency in her voice now. BB8 rolled into the shrubbery and disappeared into the green.

Rey was in a small crevice of rocks that were towering either side of her. She held out her blaster, prepared to shoot at any moment. She heard an electrical buzzing. She backed against a rock, she was shaking but did not call out. The forest was closing in as she went deeper into its depths. The leaves were blocking most of the sunlight. The buzz was getting closer. Her heart began to race. She could hear the blood pumping through her ears. She knew that whomever was coming after her was trying to scare her. Make her afraid. It was a tactic that many of the bandits back on Jakku used. But now the circumstances were completely different. She heard a twig break behind a great rock.

A dark cloaked figure immerged from behind it. She began to panic as the figure began to advance towards her. She stumbled backwards, shooting carelessly. Any of her shots that would have inflicted damage on the figure were easily deflected by his red lightsaber. His saber was different to the ones she had heard about. The ones she had heard of had the burning light very well contained but the masked menace that stood before her, his lightsaber seemed to only just be controlled, it looked more like a flame on a blowtorch. At the hilt of the saber two smaller light blades jutted out. He deflected her shots easily.

Rey glanced to her left and saw a small incline, she saw an escape. She quickly scrambled up it closely followed by the figure in black. She backed away from the figure, still facing him. She shot again and again. He deflected them almost lazily. It was as if he thought this was a game. Kylo was getting bored of this. He held out his hand. Rey could not move; he had forced her hand that she was holding the blaster with behind her back. She could only breath and blink. She fought against the force that was holding her but nothing happened. She was breathing heavily as she tried with all her might to move. He walked towards her, swinging his lightsaber at his side at ease.

"The girl I have heard so much about." He said as he surveyed her form, frozen in front of him. His voice was modified by the heavily scratched and dented silver mask; Rey could tell that the figure was male. He held himself up straight, he was about a head taller than her. He walked around her, like a shark circling his prey. He stopped when he was directly behind her.

"The droid." The man drew his lightsaber and held it up to her cheek, it did not burn her but illuminated her features in a red light. She could feel the heat radiating off it. "Where is it?" the man said calmly. Rey did not answer.

The man took his saber away from her face and walked back in front of her. He held out a gloved hand close to her face, his black gloves scraped her skin slightly. He began to search in her mind. He saw many memories that meant nothing to him. He looked in her more recent ones. He smiled under his mask.

"The map… You've seen it." He said in a low, calm voice as though conveying a secret. He studied her face from under his mask. A Stormtrooper was standing a few metres behind the pair, he watched for a second before giving his report.

"Sir… resistance fighters. We need more troops." The Stormtrooper stood, waiting for a command.

"Pull the troops out. Forget the droid… we have what we need." He said calmly as he walked behind the girl once more. He held out his hand and waved it at the girl and she fell unconscious. Kylo scooped her up before she hit the floor. The Stormtrooper stood nearby, expecting his superior to give the girl to him but the general walked towards his own ship as he carefully carried the girl. He looked down at her and brushed a stray hair out of her face.

(===||===)

 **Thank you all for reading my first chapter!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading this first instalment, the next chapter will be up next week. A quick note that the first couple of chapters will be drabbles.**

 **In my story we are going to say that BB8 got destroyed and the resistance never got the last piece of the map. Also the First Order do not have the rest of the map from the Imperial archives.**

 **Anyway, thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. I hope you have a great week!**

 **Days until Rouge One: 333 Days**

 **Days until Episode VIII: 494 Days**


	2. Intimidation Game

She woke with a start. Her eyes were wide like a rabbit caught in headlights. She had to readjust to the sudden brightness. She tried to remember what had happened. She was in a forest; they were being attacked by the First Order. She was groping through her blurry memories trying to find something that may indicate how she came to be in this strange and bizarre place.

A cloaked figure in a mask had ambushed her with a red lightsaber. He had frozen her, made her feel powerless, made her feel afraid. He had held the scorching red lightsaber near her skin. She dug deeper into her memory, trying to find the precise moment that had led to her being here, or at least some trigger that would help indicate what had happened. She struggled with her mind, he had come from behind her and then the world went black. The cloaked figure had brought her here. Had taken her prisoner on what she suspected would have been a Star Destroyer.

She tried to put her hand to her head which was pounding after being knocked out but she found she couldn't. She did not have to look to know that she had been fixed down by some cold, metal contraption. She could make out a dark outline directly in front of her, crouched down. The steel mask glinted in the light.

"Where am I?" Rey said, her voice was slightly shaky after being un-conscious for some period of time.

Kylo Ren had carried her from his ship to the holding cell. He had felt the force in her, he could feel it now, emanating through the air. She had been latched there for at least an hour, yet he had not left. He wanted to be there when she woke up. He was intrigued by her. She was just a scavenger, and as far as he knew, there was nothing special about her. And yet, she had been able to deflect capture from the First Order multiple times, with the help of the traitor. When she woke her eyes had been groggy from the long period she had been knocked out, but now they were alert.

"You're my guest." He said sardonically; his voice was modified by the mask which only made the situation more intimidating.

She could feel panic reaching in at her, trying to grab at her but she fought back, she dug her dirty nails into her palm, trying to divert the panic to somewhere else, trying to release the frustrations she felt clouding her vision.

"Where are my friends?" She said defiantly. Her voice was stronger now, commanding even, as she looked directly at him.

Kylo was surprised that even in this dire situation, she was still worrying about her friends. Her friends that had stayed on the planet, not even trying to come after him; though they did not have much of a chance after he entered into hyperspace.

"You mean the murderers, traitors and thieves you call friends?" He paused, wanting to feel some satisfaction in her rising panic. "You'll be relieved to hear that I have no idea." A wave of hatred and anger radiated through the air from her.

"You still want to kill me." He tilted his head slightly when he said this, like a child asking an adult a question. But it was not a question, it was a statement. He knew that she wanted to murder him. He knew that when she had feebly tried to do so in the forest.

"That's what happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask." She said without thinking. She knew that he would take it off as soon as she said it. The mask made it made it easier to be spiteful and to want to murder him because she did not see him as a human being, just as a mask.

He put his hands up to the sides of his steel mask, there was a clicking noise and a sound of air being let out. He knew that she was probably expecting a scared human being, or something that no longer looked like one. So he took great pleasure in showing her that he was not scared, or grotesquely deformed. He took great pleasure in showing her that he was just a man.

It took her a moment to register just what she was looking at. Whatever she was expecting to see under that mask, this was not it. His dark hair framed his pale face. He had strong features and high cheekbones. She diverted her gaze towards where he had just put down the steel helmet. In the hexagonal container, ash rose up and clouded the steel mask. He started to walk towards her. She felt her heart begin to race, fear began to claw at her like a lion. She fought it down. He stopped when he was directly beside her. She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead of her.

"Tell me about the droid." He commanded. His eyes travelled up and down her features eventually resting on her hazel eyes. She could feel his gaze on her.

"He's a BB unit with a selenium drive and a thermal hub scan vindicator-" She began to say in a cool voice that showed no expression nor tone. He cut her off.

"He's carrying a section of the navigational chart. We have the rest recovered from the archives of the empire but we need the last piece and you somehow convinced the droid to give it to you. You… A scavenger." He trailed off. She could feel frustration bubbling up inside her.

"You know I can take whatever I want." She felt a shiver of fear travel down her spine.

He held a gloved hand up to her head. He brushed her hair slightly as he did so. He began to dig through her memories, her current and past emotions. He knew that he could have looked through her mind from the other side of the room, but he wanted to intimidate her, to scare her. He had learnt that this made it easier to get what he wanted out of prisoners.

"You're so lonely…" He said softly in her ear. He felt an emptiness in her that he himself had felt so often. "So afraid to leave… At night so desperate to sleep… You imagine an ocean… I see it… I see the island."

He could see in his mind's eye a dark, murky ocean that waves crashed across. In the distance he could see an island, an island dense with forests. Bird song carried across the water towards where he was standing.

"And Han Solo… He feels like the father you never had…" He could feel anger bubbling inside him at the feelings that this girl had got in the day that she had known him. "He would have disappointed you." He said this quickly, Rey could tell that he was feeling angry.

"Get out of my head!" She half yelled. Her cheeks were damp with tears of frustration.

Kylo took a step back and looked at her. He was surprised at how he was finding it hard to get out of her what he so desired. He wanted that map… He needed it. He would not feel satisfied until Luke Skywalker was on the ground in front of him. His dead body with a hole the shape of a lightsaber through.

"I know you've seen the map. It's in there… and now you'll give it to me." He commanded again.

He held out his hand and tried to pull it from her, with more determination this time. Her face was contorted into one of pain but also of determination. He could tell she was scared. He knew that he was close to getting the map and after he got it, he would dispose of her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Don't be afraid, I feel it too." He tried to reassure her, tried to make her give in, but it only strengthened her.

"I'm. Not. Giving. You. Anything." She said the words individually, like she was trying to throw the words at him and cause pain.

"We'll see about that." He stretched his hand out more, his muscles were tensed with all his strength. He was putting so much force into getting the map from the girl that he did not register, at first, the presence in his mind. He did not feel it.

"You… you're afraid… That you will never be as strong as Darth Vader!" She said, her face still contorted.

He knew he had made a mistake. He knew that he should have just tortured her to get the information out, but now he had let her into his head. He knew his grave mistake. He brought his hand down quickly and looked at her. She was breathing heavily, triumphant at the affect she had had on him. He looked at her for a second, like he was going to say something, her forehead was beaded with sweat. Her heavy breathing reiterated around the room. Kylo grabbed his helmet and walked briskly from the room.

(===||===)

Kylo had briskly walked through the winding corridors of the Star Killer Base to reach the chamber that the Supreme Leader appeared in. He had not taken the time to put on his steel mask and he walked quickly, not stopping to speak with any important generals he passed. He was not entirely comfortable with his mask off. With his mask off he still felt he was Ben Organa Solo. But with it on he was Kylo Ren.

He strode up the walk way, the Supreme Leader was sat on his throne. You could see the veins through his old, translucent skin. The Supreme Leader's face was riddled with scars that Kylo knew he would never find out where they came from.

Kylo briskly explained what had happened between himself and Rey. He was still in disbelief of it himself as he relayed it to Snoke. He could feel Snoke's disappointment radiating off him.

"This scavenger, this girl… _Resisted you_?" He put a cruel emphasis on the last words.

"She is strong with the force. Untrained but stronger than she knows." Kylo said, like a child trying to defend his wrong doing to the headmaster of the school. Snoke began to pick at a scar on his chin subconsciously.

"And the droid?" The Supreme Leader asked in a subdued way.

The sound of quick footsteps coming down the walkway towards them announced the arrival of General Hux. Kylo kept his gaze focused on a part of wall just past Snoke. He tried to stay calm, he could feel disappointment rolling over him in waves. The disappointment was replaced swiftly with anger at what Hux said next.

"Ren believed it to be no longer valuable to us. That the girl was all we needed. As a result, it is likely the droid has been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map to Skywalker already." Hux said matter of factly. Snoke's frustration was emanating off him so much that even a non-force user like the incompetent Hux could feel it.

"The resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker." The Supreme Leader said more to himself than Hux or Ren.

"We have their location. We tracked their reconnaissance ship the Elynium system." Hux said smugly as he glanced over at Kylo who stood silently with his fists clenched.

"Good… then we will crush them once and for all." Snoke said triumphantly as he motioned to Hux to leave. The general glanced over at Kylo again smirking and then he walked out of the room, going to make the order to prime the weapon.

"Supreme Leader I can get the map from the girl I just need your guidance." Kylo said, he wanted to regain some respect from his Master. Snoke looked down at him, his eyes dark eyes filled with vengeance.

"If what you say about the girl is true, _bring her to me_!"

(===||===)

"General Organa?"

Leia looked behind her when she heard the distant voice. It was a grim faced pilot. She had been deep in thought as she looked at the bustling vista of D'Qar. Poe and Finn had been deep in conversation when she had been looking at them. She was reminded of her son, the anticipation and laughter which she had been told had long been forgotten from her son's dark eyes.

"Yes?" She said quietly. She returned her gaze the window. "What were the results of your search of Takodana?" She asked with nervous anticipation. She was sure that her pilots would come back with good news.

"We did not recover the droid. There was no sign of him nearby Maz's." The pilot said grimly. Leia let out an audible sigh. "But that does not necessarily mean that it is not there." The pilot said, trying to look on the bright side of things.

"You are dismissed." Leia said sadly. She heard the door close behind her and then she returned her gaze to the landing strip in front of her. She then allowed herself to start spiralling.

(===||===)

 **I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, next one will be up next week!**

 **I went to see the Force Awakens for the fifth time today, so as soon as I got home I began writing as all my creative juices were flowing!**

 **I hope you enjoyed and until next week, good-bye!**

 **Days until Rouge One: 327 days**


	3. Lightsabers And The Force

He could feel his presence.

The presence of his father, the father who had not cared. The father who was more concerned with the Wookie than his own son.

Kylo was marching through the underground corridors of the Star Killer Base to reach the oscillator. He strode towards it with a group of Stormtroopers, ignoring Hux's multiple warnings that it was not sensible to go the oscillator with the Resistance so close at hand. Kylo had not given him a second thought.

He could now see the entrance to the great, black, cavernous room which stabilised the charging mechanism of the weapon situated on the planet. He could feel his father's presence; he could also feel the presence of the scavenger girl.

As he closed the distance between himself and the entrance he fleetingly addressed the concern at the back of his brain: maybe seeing his father would take him back to the light side. Maybe that was best for him? He dismissed the thought as soon as it entered his being. He was the leader of the Knights of Ren, he could not… would not be tempted by the inferior light side.

He entered the chamber, he glanced around. He could feel Han Solo's presence playing on the edge of his mind. He could almost taste it.

"Find them." He addressed the Stormtroopers behind him.

The sound of armour and footsteps echoed around the cavernous chamber as the masked figures filed out in front of him. When they split and went their different ways he made his own way into the chamber. He walked straight ahead. He decided that he would check the other side of the facility.

Han stood behind a pillar, waiting for a group of troopers to march past him. He placed an explosive, a touch too haphazardly, beside him. He peered upwards to see Stormtroopers clattering across the walkway above him. He felt an immediate jolt in his stomach as he spied a black clad figure walking over a steel bridge directly in the middle of the oscillator chamber.

He knew that he had done his job planting the explosives. He knew that he could easily get Chewbacca and go back to D'Qar. But Leia's words reiterated in his mind. The words of a mother's love. He stepped out from behind the pillar and began to walk quickly and quietly towards the bridge. He was acting on impulse and he was being reckless, he knew. But he had to do this. He had to do this for whatever remained of his son. He had to.

"Ben!" Han's voice echoed around the room, making it seem that multiple people had yelled the name that Kylo Ren had wanted, and tried so hard, to forget.

Above them, Rey and Finn pushed open the doors of the black building. The scene they saw was one that they had not expected. Han was a small way away from the figure of Kylo Ren and was walking cautiously towards him. Chewbacca stood a couple of levels above the figures. Convoys of Stormtroopers stopped, seemingly forgetting what they had been ordered to do. Everyone seemed to have stopped to watch the peculiar scene unfold.

As she watched, Rey could feel goose bumps rushing up and down her arms, she was shivering, her teeth chattering. She was used to the blistering sun of Jakku, not snow. Her uneven breaths clouded in front of her. The wind furled around her. Finn stood beside her, his chest heaving as he clutched a blaster.

Kylo turned around to face the grey haired man who stood before him. He had not laid eyes on him for years. Not since he had been sent away, sent away to train with the Jedi order.

"Han Solo, I've been waiting for this day for a long time." The distorted voice of his son took Han back for a second. He could not help but be reminded of the infamous Darth Vader.

"Take off that mask. You don't need it. Not here. Not with me." It was more of a command than a request. Han approached his son slowly and cautiously, like a hunter might approach a sleeping lion.

"What do you think you'll see if I take it off?" Kylo countered. He held his hands lazily at his side. He could feel his heart rate growing steadily higher and higher with every footstep that his father took closer to him.

"The face of my son." Han said coolly. Rey and Finn stood in the quickly fading light with their mouths hanging open at the unexpected and shocking revelation.

Kylo stood for a second, pondering whether to take off his silver mask. He looked into the eyes of his father through the dark filtered lenses of his head gear. He reached his hands up and quickly found the two ridges that would remove the mask. He manoeuvred his fingers into them and as he did so there was a faint hiss of air being released from it. He lifted it off his head then he dropped it with a clatter that reiterated around the cavernous room.

"Your son is _gone_." He put an emphasis on the last word, as if to throw it, to cause physical pain to the old smuggler who stood before him.

"That's what Snoke wants you to believe. But it's not true." He half yelled in frustration. Kylo shook his head slightly.

Finn and Rey still stood at the balcony watching. Rey turned to Finn who looked aghast. It occurred to her that he would have never seen Kylo Ren's face. Only higher ranks would be allowed such an honour. She turned back to the scene unfolding on the bridge. She bit her lip nervously as she watched.

"No, the Supreme Leader is wise." Kylo contradicted him.

He could begin to feel the light at the side of his mind, trying to get in. Trying to consume him. He glanced up to see the Traitor and the Scavenger girl watching. The light that was there was replaced by a rush of anger at the rogue Stormtrooper. He returned his gaze back to the old man, just a shadow of his former self.

"No. Snoke's using you for your power. When he gets everything he wants out of you, he'll crush you. You know it's true." Han stood very close to his son now. Kylo could see every wrinkle and age spot upon the old and worn face of his father.

"It's too late." Kylo said finally. Han saw that he had got through, he gave a small internal sigh of relief.

"No, it's not. Leave here with me, come home." Han said with determination in his voice.

"I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?" Kylo's voice was low now and it cracked slightly. Han took a step closer to his son, he could hear his own heart rate thundering.

"Yes… Anything." Han looked at the face of his son. A sad sort of happiness in his eyes.

Kylo reached down to his belt and unclipped the lightsaber. He looked down at it for a moment, thinking of everything he had been through. He looked at his father who was waiting with baited breath. Han reached out his hand and put his hand around the hilt of the weapon. The sun faded completely, leaving them in dimly lit, red light. Kylo tightened his grip on the hilt of the saber. His eyes hardened. The darkness brought him to his senses. He looked at his father and at that moment, Han knew. He knew what his son was going to do. Hans eyes softened, as if pleading without words for his son not to do this. But he was to be disappointed.

The lightsaber ignited. The red light pierced Han Solo's chest. There was a scream from above him, coming from the balcony, he took no notice, focusing only on his son. He let out a little gasp as the burning, red light hit him. Kylo stood there, watching the life drain slowly out of him. Watching the light leave his eyes. His father, with his remaining strength, caressed his son's cheek softly. Kylo could feel hot tears welling up in his eyes. Hans' eyes went glassy, reflecting the man that was once his son.

"Thank you." Kylo murmured in his father's ear as he fell from the bridge into the depths. His body disappearing from sight.

Kylo stood there for what felt like hours, though it could have only been mere seconds. He could feel his father's life force fade away into nothingness. A moan of sadness and anger came from the Wookie above him. It was a sound of agony. The sound brought him back, too late though, the Wookie had raised his bow blaster, aimed it and fired it at him. It had made its mark.

From high above him Rey could feel tears flowing down her cheeks, anger coursing through her veins. She aimed a shaky hand at the figure on the bridge but Finn pulled her back. Kylo could see the Stormtroopers closing in on the hairy beast. Kylo had a hand pressed against his wound, trying to halt the blood flow. He could feel anger emanating from high above him. The traitor and the girl were there. She wanted to fight but the coward was pulling her back. Kylo, still clutching his red lightsaber, began to stride to the edge of the bridge in pursuit of the pair.

(===||===)

Finn and Rey were running. Running through the dark trees that stood like sinister figures watching their progress. Rey could feel tears welling up in her eyes. The scene that she had just witnessed kept running through her head. How Han's hand met _that monsters_ face and caressed it. She felt a stray tear run down her cheek as she clutched the blaster in her belt. The blaster _he_ had given her.

"The Falcon is this way." Finn pointed as he said it. His chest was heaving with all the running they had done.

They stopped dead in their tracks when they heard the sound of electrical buzzing that was all too familiar. They began to walk forward cautiously. The red light cast an eerie glow on the snow. The figure stood before them, a brooding figure in the shadows cast by the passing shots from _Tie Fighters_ and _X-Wings_. His face was set in a grim expression as he looked at them both, his eyes darting from one to the other.

" _We're not done yet_." He said, putting venom in every syllable, like a cobra spitting poison.

"You're a monster." Rey said, putting as much contempt into the words as she could, like she wanted to cause a physical wound by it.

Hate and loathing radiated off her in waves. Kylo watched her, he watched the fire in her eyes that so many lacked. He glanced over at the traitor and reflected the anger to him that the girl was so emanating. He was why this was all happening. If he had just been a good Stormtrooper and done his duty, they would not be in this situation. He could have been, even now, at the Last Jedi Temple defeating his uncle. But no. It had come to this.

"It's just us now… no Han Solo to save you." Distaste weaved in his voice. He hit himself in the wound that Chewie had inflicted and blood splattered across the floor. The crimson blood standing out dramatically from the snow.

Rey could feel her sadness replaced with burning hate. _How dare he say his name._ _How dare he_. Rey began to reach her hand and grab her blaster but before she could Kylo flicked his wrist and she flew into the air eventually hitting a tree. The bark scratched her back as she scraped down the tree. She hit the floor and everything went black.

Finn felt a jolt in his stomach as he rushed over to her, discarding his blaster in his haste. He pushed hair out of her face, he could feel his heart thundering in his chest.

"Rey?! Rey!? _Rey?!_ " He pleaded for her to wake up. He pressed an ear to her chest. There was a faint beating. Faint, but it was there.

Kylo began to walk forward as he did he re-ignited his lightsaber. The coward was clambering all over her, checking for a pulse, but he did not know that his biggest problem was right behind him.

" _Traitor!_ " Kylo Ren's voice reverberated around the trees, anger and hate weaved in his expression, he pointed the red saber at Finn.

Finn stood up and brought a hand to his belt. He quickly ignited the blue lightsaber that had belonged to the infamous Darth Vader and then Luke Skywalker. He drew it up to his face in a battle stance. The blue light lit everything around him. Kylo's face showed surprise before he could stop it but it was quickly replaced with deepest loathing.

"That lightsaber… belongs to me." He gestured at it with his lightsaber.

"Come and get it!" Finn challenged.

Kylo knew that he could have probably used the force and summoned it, but he wanted to erase the stain of the rogue Stormtrooper from the world. From the memory of the First Order. He already had blood on his hands, what would a little more be?

Kylo Ren lunged forward towards the Trooper. Finn, though scared, lunged forward too, he was determined to be the hero. He wanted to avenge the War Hero and the smuggler. Finn stumbled backwards once their lightsabres hit, casting a purple light on them both. He fell to the ground but regained his footing quickly. Kylo hit his side again, trying to keep the blood circulating around his system.

The Ex-Stormtrooper was blocking attacks with vigour that could rival his former leader's skill. Kylo managed to pin Finn against a tree, their lightsabers collided and sent purple sparks in all directions, a faint sizzling noise came from the snow below them where the sparks had landed. Kylo turned the weapon in his hand so the blowtorch like cross guard of the lightsaber seared into his shoulder. Finn let out a loud yell of pain, terror in his eyes. Kylo Ren took pleasure in it. The pleasure was short lived however because Finn had whirled his arm around in pain and his own lightsaber made contact with the Knight of Ren's arm.

Finn could see his pursuers eyes harden as the burning light grazed his shoulder. Kylo had grown tired of the game. He was like a lion going in for the kill, and he took glory in that.

Kylo swung his gloved hand and hit Finn in the face, the man staggered so his back was to his adversary. Ren gave a small smile as he raised his lightsaber and slashed a line down his former employee's spine. The man let out a scream of pain as he fell to the floor, he was still breathing, but just. The heat had immediately cauterized the wound inflicted. Finn lay on the floor, he was breathing shallowly and in short bursts. He turned in time to see this lightsaber fly through the air and wedge itself into the snow. Kylo looked from the fallen trooper to the lightsaber; he knew he could kill the man who lay feebly before him. Probably save him a lifetime of pain. But there were greater personal matters at risk.

He extinguished his own lightsaber and clipped it in his belt. He turned to the saber wedged in the snow. His birth right. He held out an arm and began to beckon it to him with the force. He knew that he could have gone over to it and picked it up, but he felt some satisfaction in taking it this way. He could see it twitching, emerging millimetre by millimetre out of the snow. He waited with bated breath.

The lightsaber eventually flew towards him. He could almost taste the satisfaction it would bring once he held it in his hand. It flew towards him but he had to lean backwards because it soared right past his outstretched arm. He turned to see the almost surprised expression engraved on the young scavenger girls face, she was a no body. Yet she held the weapon that he had long since desired. He watched her as she, somewhat sheepishly, ignited the old weapon and drew herself into a battle stance.

He stood there for a moment in disbelief watching her. Her heaving chest. She could feel something emanating off the man who stood before her. She was not completely sure what it was, or how to explain it. But it made her feel uneasy. He eventually reached down to his belt and ignited his red lightsaber.

She lunged at him. Her technique was sloppy but what she lacked in skill she made up with in ferocity, lunging again and again, trying to get an attack in. Blow after blow they fought, trees collapsed all around them as the two battled.

They eventually came to a ravine in the ground of the collapsing planet. She made a stab at the tall man but he deflected it. He held the lightsaber up to her face as she tried desperately to push back. She could feel beads of sweat begin to trickle down her temples. Her heart was thundering in her ears. His dark eyes met her own. She could feel the heat on her back begin to emanate through her spine.

"You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the force." The man half yelled over the sound of rock collapsing into the planets core below them. She looked up at him, her eyes began to clear somewhat.

"The Force…" She murmured, she closed her eyes for a moment, as if in thought. Kylo frowned. She opened them again, he could tell that something was different, that something had happened inside of her. Rey could feel a new found strength radiating through her.

She pushed the tall man backwards. He stumbled, his eyes were wide as he looked at her. She struck at him and he only just blocked her with one hand. The next time he was not so lucky. She swung and hit at him which made him stumble. It cut off a segment of his silk robes. He got to his feet shakily. Their lightsabers clashed and illuminated the part of the forest they were situated in. She pushed her hand down on his and his lightsaber sparked as it hit the floor, the snow began to melt from under it. The lightsaber eventually went off, the only light now was from the blue light cast by the Skywalker lightsaber. Using all her strength she swung it and hit his face leaving a deep cut going between his eyes.

He felt pain, un-imaginable pain. He did not cry out. He knew that she was descending into the dark side. That if she finished him, which at that moment in time seemed like she could, that she would make that oh-so-crucial final blow. He could picture it now, the lightsaber piercing his chest. Maybe he deserved it? Maybe he deserved what he was sure he was about to get. She looked at him. She circled him like a shark would its prey.

She stood before him when a rift formed behind her. She turned quickly as the side which housed Finn drifted away from her. She could feel her mouth go dry. Looked out over the ravine. She knew that she would not be able to cross it, but her sudden anxiety for her fallen friend seemed to creep in. It seemed to crush her. She dropped the lightsaber in shock. She had completely forgotten about her fallen opponent behind her.

"Finn! Finn! _Finn_!" She cupped her hands to her mouth, trying to yell to her friend. Trying to get some kind of response.

Behind her Kylo Ren clambered to his feet and with his remaining strength he used the force and then she passed out. She fell into the snow, the limp figure of the Scavenger. He walked over to her form. He stood over her. Her chest was falling up and down and breath clouded in front of her. He reached down and picked up the lightsaber. He felt power rush through his very being.

There was a cast of white light from behind him as a small shuttle landed. A ramp opened and the figure of General Hux emerged, his red hair practically glowing in the bright light giving him God like presence. Kylo Ren moved towards him.

"Bring the girl." Were the only words he uttered to the general as he walked past clutching his side and the steel saber.

The General nodded and gestured to two of the lucky Stormtroopers who would escape this planet. They moved in front of him and picked up the limp figure of the girl. He looked back at the dark figure of Kylo Ren who was now holding a hand to his face, trying to stem the blood. He would wait to deliver his bad news tomorrow.

(===||===)

 **Thank you for reading this instalment! Now it is time for my creative juices to really flow, now that Rey is in the hands of the First Order. What has become of Finn? And how exactly are the Resistance going to cope with the loss of two valuable assets?**

 **I hope that you have enjoyed and I will see you next Sunday!**

 **Days until Rogue One: 320**

 **Days until Episode VIII: 683**


	4. The Finalizer

**Okay, just a quick note before we jump into this chapter, I have changed the "blurb" of this fanfiction so that now BB-8 is not destroyed. Okay, that was all, I hope you enjoy!**

(===||===)

Kylo was laying on a cold steel bed while a droid tended to his wounds. He was gripping the sides of the bed so hard it was making his knuckles white. He had insisted on not using drugs because they stopped him being able to think straight. And thinking straight is what he really need now.

He could remember how he had been almost defeated by the defiant scavenger girl. How she had almost beaten him. How she had almost killed him. He knew that if it were not for the crack in the corrupting planet he may not be here. He would most likely be on the floating remains of Star Killer Base. If it were not for the girl's stupidity and compassion, he would not have her in his clutches on the _Finalizer_.

He had walked onto the ship and sat down in a corner of the small freighter. He could remember feeling hot crimson blood dripping down his face, clouding his vision. He could remember the shockwaves that vibrated through the ship that conveyed the destruction of Star Killer Base. He did not look out of the window at the base. He did not need too. He could see the orange light reflecting off the dull metal of the ship.

The girl. She had been in touch with the Force. He had sensed it. He could remember the feel of power emanating from her through the ash filled air. He could see something change in her eyes. The dim candle that was flickering had turned into a roaring fire. She had gained a new strength. She had fought ferociously; she had almost defeated him. But she had not. That was the important thing.

"You would have died if it were not for your belt. It stemmed the bleeding slightly." The droid said in a mechanical voice which withheld no emotion. Kylo grunted in acknowledgment, he was not in the mood for pleasantries.

He let out a gasp as a med droid began to stitch the deep wound dealt by the bow caster. He knew that he should have died that night. He knew that he could have died multiple times. But here he was. In excruciating pain getting sewn up by a machine. He sighed and shut his eyes.

It felt like hours before the droid bandaged the wound completely. He flicked his eyes open and looked at the white lights above him that illuminated the room so harshly. He glanced at the red and black droid beside him. It was retracting an arm that was holding the bandage that had been wrapped around his side.

Too his right, on another bed, there was the form of Captain Phasma who was lying quite still with another black and red droid tending to her. She was breathing heavily, it sounded as if she had a collapsed lung, and now he thought about it she probably did.

"You are ready to leave sir." The robotic droid said. He flicked his gaze back to the droid. Kylo sat upright on the bed. He looked down at his white fists and rubbed them slightly. "I would advise you, sir, not to attempt anything particularly physical at this point of time." The droid said pointedly. Kylo nodded as he pulled on his black robes that had been on a chair beside him.

He could feel a dull pain emanating down his spine. He ignored it and stood up. The room swam before him and he had to hold onto the steel railing of his bed for support. He waited a second before moving forward. The droid watched in a somewhat concerning manner. The cut on his face stung, the raw skin around it was irritated. He strode through the corridors of the Imperial Star Destroyer. He only passed a few Stormtroopers and out of the windows on each corridor he walked through he noticed that there were no Tie-Fighters escorting the ship. No other Star Destroyers. It struck him as very strange. The sound of his own echoing footsteps and breathing kept him company.

He came to the massive cockpit where a few commanders sat in their chairs frowning at different screens. He moved past the commanders and technicians not sparing them a second glance. He walked to the bay window that gave a view of the void of space of engulfed them. He stood next to the General, his ginger hair did not look as precisely combed as usual.

"You said you required my presence?" Kylo said in a low voice. The General did not flinch at the sound of him.

"I did." The General replied stonily. "Let's go someone private." And without another word the General turned around and began to walk briskly down the aisle. Ren strode behind him trying to control his frustration. Kylo was trying to read the man's demeanour but with no luck. He just followed him, like a child being taken to the head teacher.

They entered a bland room that held only a steel table and a couple of cold metal chairs, it had a small window that looked out onto the black void. Hux motioned for Kylo to sit down. Kylo begrudgingly obeyed. He did not like the way that the General was acting, he felt patronized. The sound of Kylo's scraping chair legs along the floor echoed around the room. Hux shut the door and sat down in front of Ren. Hux looked Kylo over, his eyes lingering on the great cut on his companion's face.

"As I said, we have some bad news." Hux paused, taking a sip of scolding liquid from a cup that he had carried with him. "Ah. As I was saying. You have probably guessed that we have had a major setback with the destruction of Star Killer Base." Kylo let out a short cold laugh that did not reach his dark eyes. Hux continued. "We have sustained heavy losses of Troopers and Fighter ships." Hux let out a sigh. "And as you have probably seen we almost lost Captain Phasma in the crippling of the planet."

"That would explain the lack of patrolling fighters." Kylo said darkly. "Why are we not in hyper speed?" Hux took another sip of his drink before replying. Kylo could feel a rage begin to bubble up inside him.

"Some of the Resistance pilots attempted to destroy the Star Destroyers that came to our aid." Hux began to get very interested in stirring his drink at that moment. The steam rose slowly from it.

"Yes, well that would explain the absence of Star Destroyers, but that does not explain why we are not in hyper drive!" Kylo's voice was low and deadly. Hux knew he would have to tread carefully; Kylo Ren was not known for having patience when it came to mistakes. But then, neither was he.

"The Resistance did not manage to take down the Finalizer but they did manage to damage the hyper drive, therefore not allowing us to use it. If we do there is a ninety-nine percent chance of us ending up like Star Killer. And I'm sure you would not like that, now, would you Ren?" Hux said calmly. As he took a sip of his drink, his eyes looked at a practically steaming with rage Kylo Ren. "I already have engineers working on it." Hux could see the early warning signs of an outburst from Ren, he was heavily breathing, trying to contain his rage. "In better news, we still have a few Tie-Fighters and whoever survived Star Killer are coming into the landing bay as we speak." Hux leaned back in his chair in a moderately contemptable sort of way.

"What about the Supreme Leader? Will we be able to contact him?" Kylo said through gritted teeth. He had his hand clasped around his lightsaber, ready to lash out at any moment. Hux let out an audible sigh.

"Not at this moment of time, but we are trying to prepare a hologram chamber in the unlikely event that we do not get the hyper drive working." Hux replied coolly.

"Why can't I use a Tie-fighter and go to Snoke myself? I assume their hyper drives are still working." Kylo countered. He was pacing around the room now, trying to divert his anger into long strides from one side of the rectangular room to the other.

"Because I need you here for two reasons. One, I assume you remember our little rogue Trooper FN- Two-One-Eight-Seven? Well, I don't want to risk the one vessel we have falling into anarchy." Hux said. This time Kylo really did laugh.

"I sincerely doubt that. The traitor was, metaphorically speaking, a thorn among roses. But go on, what is the other reason you need me." Kylo replied, he looked into the dark void outside, he could see the reflection of his scarred face in the glass. The skin around his cut was red and irritated.

"I would have thought even you, Leader of the Knights of Ren would have thought of this reason." His voice was full of malice. "Because ... we still need the map from the girl. And I believe you are the only one who can retrieve it from her. Because last time I checked you are the only person on board this ship who has the power to retrieve memories." Hux said in a rush. "And I would advise you start sooner rather than later." With that Hux stood up, mug in his hand, he strode towards the door. Before he exited he said one last thing to the fuming Kylo Ren. "And I would suggest you try and relieve your anger before you do interrogate her."

The door slammed shut. Relieve himself of his anger was exactly what Ren did.

(===||===)

Rey woke up on a cold floor. She opened her eyes to bright white light and almost immediately had to shut them again. She could still see a dull light from behind her eyelids. She covered her face and opened her dark eyes again. She let her eyes readjust to the light.

The room greatly resembled the integration chamber back on Star Killer, but she knew for a fact that this was not Star Killer. It was a relatively featureless room with a flat metal board with a lumpy pillow atop it. She assumed it was to be her bed. She stood up shakily and put a hand to her head which was pounding. She walked towards the bed and saw that under it was a small stool. _Multi-use then_. She pulled it out and examined it, looking for a nail poking out but to no avail. She pushed the metal stool back underneath the table / bed. She sat down on the hard bed and knew that this was not meant to be a place for her to feel comfortable. She dangled her legs off the edge and swung them back and forth.

She could feel small stabbing pains in her back. She tried to reach into her blurry memories to put together a better picture of how she came to be here, and why everything was aching so much.

She could remember that she had been fighting Kylo Ren, she had been in the middle of a forest on Star Killer base. There was snow everywhere and she had been freezing. He had tossed her to the side and she had been thrown into a tree and had scraped down the trunk, that would explain the pains in her back. But … she remembered the fight better now, she had been winning, she could have killed him, she wanted too. She was going too. But then the ground rumbled, she had almost fallen to the floor with the force of it. She had dropped her lightsaber and looked out onto the steadily growing crack in the earth that was distancing her from her friend who lay on the floor, wounded, possibly dead. She remembered screaming his name, and then it all went black.

She could put together a fairly good picture too what had happened after that. She had been re-captured by the First Order and that was why she now sat in a minimalistic cell. She reached her hands under her dirty shirt and felt her back. She could feel small streams of dried blood trailing down from where the splinters now hid in her skin. She winced as she began to scratch at them, trying unsuccessfully to dig out each small sliver of wood. She let out a small yelp of pain as a splinter came free. She held her hand in front of her and saw the bloody piece of wood. She flicked it across the room and resumed her work.

In-between splinters she would grab her grey, lumpy pillow and wipe fresh blood on it. Soon the pillow was streaked with crimson and the floor was riddled with shards of wood. She was in the middle of scratching at a large fragment of wood when the doors to her cell flew open, revealing a tall, cloaked figure. As quickly as the doors opened they shut again. She glanced out of the corner of her eye but continued to claw away at the piece of wood lodged in her spine as if Kylo Ren had not just walked into the room.

Kylo stood there for a second, in the middle of the room, waiting for some sort of reaction from the scavenger girl. It was obvious that as far as she was concerned he did not warrant one. He held out his hand and the stool under her bed screeched out. Rey flinched slightly at the noise but otherwise did not react. He sat down on the metal chair and looked at her. He was intrigued but also weary of her. He knew what she was capable of, of great power that was still untapped in her.

Rey carried on picking at her back until she un-lodged the piece of wood, all the time she felt the dark eyes on her. Scanning her, almost like he was trying to x-ray her. She flicked the piece of wood to the side of her cell. She reached her hand to the pillow slowly wiping the fresh blood and skin from under her nails. Only once they were clean did she look at the tall figure before her.

Whilst she could feel trails of blood trickling down her back and onto her 'bed' she did not care, she was happy to see she had left a deep cut on Ren's face. She watched him, searching for any indication of hostility. She knew that she was in no position to fight back, even if he was wounded and healing, he could wave his hand and she would be choking before she had even raised an arm to defend herself.

"I'm glad to see I left my mark." She said in a small, self-satisfied voice. He did not react, his eyes continued to scrutinize her, as if weighing her up.

"Indeed." He finally uttered. "You know why I'm here." his low voice was calm while her aura radiated one of slight panic. He knew he was in control, and she did too.

"I'm not giving you anything." She uttered in a voice that sounded much braver than she felt. She was looking him dead in the face.

"I think we both know that is not true, don't we, Rey?" a small smirk graced Ren's lips as he sensed a moment of terror in her at him using her name.

"How do you know…" She began to say but her voice trailed off.

"The map. I would rather take it without force, but if I have to take it in a more… Violent manner, I will oblige." He tilted his head to the right slightly, like a curious child. She could feel his eyes boring into her with such intensity it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

She was desperate to switch the attention off herself, she cast around her mind for a reason that may possibly get his dark eyes off her.

"How could you kill your own father? _Your own father_?" She said in an accusatory tone. Her eyes were searching him and she could sense a slight air of annoyance. "He was a great man." She continued, as if to inflict more pain.

"Please excuse me if I do not totally accept your opinion on that, from a girl who had known him for less than forty-eight hours." He challenged, she looked like she was about to counter him but she stayed, wisely, silent. "Now, the map."

He stood up and walked towards her. She did not move. She could feel her heart begin to pick up speed, she tried to stay calm, being panicked would only make it easier for him to look into her mind. She tried to steady her breathing to an even pace. He smirked at her discomfort. He crouched down so he was at eye level with her.

"This could be so much easier. You could just give me the map and you would be on your way back home to D'Qar." He moved his middle finger and his index finger antagonistically to represent walking. She did not look at him, she had her eyes focused on the blank wall behind his head. _D'Qar…_

"Your mother misses you. I know that she wants you back. I know that she would forgive you." She was desperate now, she needed him to get away, she was not comfortable with him in such close proximity with herself. She could see the fire begin to ignite in his eyes.

"The map. Now." His voice was low and dangerous. His curiosity with the girl continued to grow, but that did not mean she say and could do anything. He needed the map.

"You don't have to do this…" She began to plead. She could remember the feeling of having someone in her head. It was painful, it felt like a hot poker was being pressed to her scalp, and she did not much desire the sensation again.

"But I have too. I have no choice." He reached out his hand and began to reach into her memory.

He could see the traitor and her running from Tie-Fighters at the Niima Outpost. He could feel her fear and exhilaration at escaping the planet that had been her home, and the doubt at the back of her head over what she was doing. Then the scene changed as he delved deeper into the floors of her memory. She was in a tent facing an ugly humanoid, the humanoid pointed behind her as a ship began to lift off and fly away. He could feel the sadness radiating from her. That ship had been hers and she was going to trade it for food. The scene changed once more and now he saw his father. The grey haired man handed the girl a gun. It was on the shores of the watering hole on Takodana. He felt a hole in his stomach. He could feel something in him trying to get through. Something in his heart. _The light_.

Kylo Ren drew himself back from her. She began to breath heavily as the restraint on her mind was lifted. She had tried to fight him off but she was too drained, mentally and physically. He looked at her with calculating eyes. She once again felt the sensation of being x-rayed. She looked at him, deep into his cold, dark eyes. In them she saw a man who was in constant conflict with his own mind.

"I will get that map from you. I will get it when you are so tired, so hopeless, so weak, you will simply give it to me." He looked at her one last time.

Her chest was heaving up and down, sweat beaded on her forehead, she had black bags under her eyes from exhaustion. He pitied her. He pitied the girl who lay before him, thoroughly broken, but still carried on. Her only source of hope in all her years on Jakku was that her family may one day come back for her. He turned around and began to stride out of the room.

"What about Finn?" Rey said just before the Knight of Ren reached the door. He paused for a second and turned to face her.

"I did not see any ship leave the explosion." He could feel the sadness radiate from her. "My deepest condolences." She glared at him when he said this. "We will have a Stormtrooper and a droid deliver food too you once a day." He said in a formal tone.

"I see you haven't learned from Star Killer." Rey half laughed.

"Actually, you will find I have. The Stormtroopers who will be bringing you your meals have been assessed and chosen for their mental strength, I have tested them personally. A small program we had running on Star Killer for an elite team of Stormtroopers. I'm afraid your mind trick will not work on them." He turned and strode out of the door. As he walked out a droid wheeled in and next to him was the gleaming armour of a Stormtrooper holding a tray of food. Kylo nodded to him and said "FN-3824."

Rey who had returned to trying to dig dried blood and skin from under her nails looked up at the mention of 'FN'. The Stormtrooper walked over to her and handed her a tray of bread, some ham and a glass of water. She did not move.

"Do you know Finn?" Rey murmured once the doors were closed and she was sure Kylo Ren would not be able to hear her. The trooper looked down at her.

"I know no-one with the name Finn." His voice came through the mask in a slightly mechanical way.

Rey thought back and tried to remember her, possibly deceased, friend's Stormtrooper ID. She took the tray and as she ate she searched through her memories. She was sure he had told her back on Takodana. She had almost finished when her head flicked up with such speed she almost cricked her neck.

"FN-2187. Do you know FN-2187?" She asked. The Stormtrooper looked down at her for a second before taking her tray and walking to the door with the droid close behind him. Rey stood up and walked after him. He was on the other side of the door when she reached him. "Well, do you?"

"I thought I did."

The doors slammed shut in her face. She stood there for a second looking at the blank wall. She turned and walked back to the metal board they called a bed. She sat on it and then soon descended into the darkness that was her own thoughts. She still held the glass from her meal. She sat it down on the ground and subconsciously began to move it, inch by inch across the floor.

(===||===)

Poe reached the outer atmosphere of Takodana and began to slow down. He flew silently above the forests and lakes of the planet until he came to the watering hole. He touched down quietly, the grass rippled below him as his engines grinded to a stop.

He pressed a red button on his control panel and the glass canopy above him let out a small hiss as it flicked up. Poe placed his hands on each side of the cockpit and began to pull himself out. He peered over the side of his X-Wing and looked out to see if there were any lingering Stormtroopers about.

The fractured remains of Maz Katan's castle lay in chunks in and around the lake. Smoke swirled up in double helixes from where stranded humanoids and aliens had set up a temporary camp. Poe could see Maz Katana in the middle of them, trying to keep order within the small makeshift camp. She looked over and nodded at Poe. They shared a silent gaze that spoke a thousand words. Poe climbed carefully out of the X-Wing and landed hard on the floor.

The ground was riddled with the white armour of fallen Stormtroopers. Poe began his ascent into the forest.

He walked for three maybe four hours before he came across the first traces of a trail from the spherical BB-8. Before Poe advanced along the trail he bent down and reached for a blaster from a fallen Stormtrooper. Poe held it close to his chest and advanced cautiously.

The trail began to appear deeper. Poe began to run, he needed to take the map back to D'Qar, he needed to find BB-8. And, he needed to get back to Finn. Twigs and dry leaves crackled under foot. Poe began to make his ascent up a slope when he noticed something in the mud. Footprints. Poe began to sprint up the slope, he could hear scuffling on the other side of the ridge. When he reached the top he could see a small clearing where the spherical, dormant BB-8 sat not moving. Poe half ran half jumped down the hill he could just about make out a scuffling in the foliage opposite him. He did not care. He ran towards the droid.

BB-8 lay silent and did not move. Poe began searching around the droid, trying to find the mechanism that would put him into 'back up power' mode. He eventually found the latch and BB-8's camera focused and came into life. BB-8's head swivelled to face Poe.

"BeeBee-Ate! What happened to you?" Poe exclaimed. BB-8 began to respond in fast beeps that conveyed confusion and concern. "You can't remember?" Poe frowned slightly at this. "What about the map, do you still have it?" Poe questioned anxiously. BB-8 looked down at his containment unit and as it opened Poe peered in and saw that there was nothing in there. The map had been taken. Poe looked at BB-8 who began to exclaim his confusion and excuses. Poe waved his hand at him to signal him to stop. He looked at the ground for a second and saw that there were three pairs of footprints leading from where they were standing heading into the forest. Poe let out a deep sigh. "Let's go home." Poe started to make his solemn way to his X-Wing while BB-8 rolled beside him, his head hung low.

(===||===)

 **I hope that you enjoyed my first chapter that was original! I enjoyed writing it immensely! Sorry if it was a bit off though, I have exams coming up and I am pretty stressed, but I wanted to get a chapter out on time!**

 **Thank you for your reviews, follows and favourites, they mean the world to me! I hope you enjoyed and see you next week!**

 **Days until Rogue One: 313 Days**

 **Days until Episode VIII: 676 Days**


	5. Sleeping Beauty

Rey could hear someone outside the door. She quickly stowed the glass cup she had taken under her lumpy, blood stained pillow. She was now able to levitate the glass in the air. She had been practising the force ever since she had stolen the cup, she knew she had to get stronger if she wanted to escape but she knew for a fact that her captor Kylo Ren would not allow her to train, not unless it was under his teachings.

She sat with her hands in her lap and began picking at the grime under her nails as if nothing had changed, as if she had not been training with the force, as if she had been sitting like that for hours. She looked up at the sound of the two heavy steel doors sliding open to reveal a Stormtrooper and a droid. The droid carried a tray with bread, cheese and water on it, laid it down in front of her before retreating to stand beside the armed Stormtrooper.

She leaned down and picked up the bread (the food was little better than the rations back on Jakku) all the while keeping her dark eyes focused on the gleaming white faceless mask. She placed the tray on her lap and continued to eat hungrily. For a while the only sound was her chewing on her food. The Stormtrooper did not move once, he simply kept his masked eyes on her face. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle as he stared at her. She gulped down her water and felt instant relief as her throat was softened with the water. The Stormtrooper started towards her. She quickly slipped the tray under her so if he was to try and retrieve it he would have to man-handle her, and she knew that all the Stormtroopers were under explicit orders from Ren not to harm her.

"Do you agree with what the First Order are doing?" She asked matter-of-factly, as if they were discussing it over dinner. She could see him physically tighten at the question.

"Yes." He answered in a tone that should convey that the conversation was over, but Rey was not going to give up that easily.

"Destroying planetary systems? Murdering innocents? Torturing people who disagree with their Order? Do you really agree with that?" She asked.

The trooper could see that she was crippled with exhaustion. He could see dark bags under her eyes. Her skin was pale, somehow having lost its tan in the days since she had left Jakku. She looked almost ghostly. He knew that this was a feeble attempt at escape and he could not allow it. But at the same time somewhere in his trained, controlled brain he could see her point, he possibly even felt some empathy with his former friend FN-2187. He looked at the girl who sat before him, even in such a dire situation, she was defiant. He could see why Ren liked her so much.

His demeanour seemed to soften slightly as he replied "Even if I didn't agree with the actions of the First Order, there is nothing I can do about it. I am stuck here. We all are." After a moment of thought he resumed his upright stance and continued, "Now give me that tray." He held out his hand.

"It's not impossible to break away from the First Order, my friend Finn showed you that. We could escape, we could both be free, you could drop me at D'Qar and then the Resistance would arrange for you to go to the outer rim and form a new life for yourself." Rey could see the hand on his weapon loosen slightly as she suggested this, she hoped he was imagining himself away from the restrictions of the First Order. The Stormtrooper looked at the girl, he could not deny the plan had its merits, but he knew he would be killed on sight if he was seen with the prisoner outside of this room. "Please … think about it" she added.

Rey knew she was breaking; she knew that she would not be able to go on if she didn't sleep. But she couldn't sleep because if she slept she was vulnerable, her mind was vulnerable to being intruded. She knew that if she slept the First Order would have the map and be on the way to Luke Skywalker before she would even wake. She looked at the Stormtrooper, she could not see his facial expressions so she did not know how effective her pitch was.

"Give. Me. The. Tray." The Stormtrooper said slowly and clearly, as if he were talking to a child. Rey did not move.

She watched as the Stormtrooper came towards her, almost in slow motion, he pulled the tray out from under her. Despite knowing the unlikelihood of the plan working she couldn't help but feel devastated and, in frustration smashed her head down on her pillow, which in turn smashed the glass hidden under it. Fortunately, the pillow muffled the sound of glass breaking. The Stormtrooper walked from the room with the dull red and black droid shuffling beside him.

Her head was spinning, she could feel sharp shards of glass just under her head, poking through the grey fabric just waiting to pierce her head. She watched the door for a second before she felt the overwhelming exhaustion overcome her, she could feel her eyelids begin to close but felt powerless to stop them. The room slowly disappeared into the darkness.

(===||===)

Kylo had been summoned by General Hux earlier in the day and had made his way to the meeting room they had assigned. He stood opposite the seated Hux in the dimly lit, dark grey room. Kylo could see Hux's beady eyes going from his own dark eyes to his scar. They sat in silence for a minute before Kylo chose to break it.

"What was it you wanted to talk about, General?" He asked darkly, whatever it was it would either be bad news or work that was of little significance compared to his own work. The blue eyed General looked at him for a second, as if considering his options.

"We have lost five tech's working on the hyper-drive and the hyper-drive itself is extremely unstable. If we use it, I believe it will be a fatal error." Hux said as he read through some paper work. "We are down to just over four-hundred Stormtroopers, that is not even a fifth of what we have on Star Killer." Hux flicked to the next page of paper work with a bored expression on his face. Kylo's hand tightened around his lightsaber in anger. Hux's eyes flickered up to look at Kylo, he could tell instantly by his posture that this was not the news that he had hoped for.

"Keep calm, Ren." Hux said as he looked at the man in front of him. As soon as he had said this he knew it had had the opposite effect on his co-worker.

"Anything else?" He said through gritted teeth.

"Well, it seems we may be stuck on the Finalizer for a while, I have ordered the remaining techs not to work on the hyper drive but to concentrate on a hologram chamber, so we can at the least communicate with the Supreme Leader." Hux said as he placed his files on the table separating himself from Ren.

Kylo could feel a lump in his stomach form. He had failed. He had not defeated Rey, he could not get the map from her. He would have to tell the Supreme Leader that he had failed.

Hux looked at Ren. He was perplexed as it appeared Ren's air of wanting to murder someone had gone, it seemed to have been replaced with something similar to anxiousness. Hux rolled his eyes and gave a little cough that brought Kylo out of thought.

"What about the girl?" Hux said inquiringly.

"What about her?" Kylo said, he was still deep in thought about the Supreme Leader.

"Have you got the map from her yet?" Hux said, irritated.

"Not yet." Kylo said half-heartedly. Hux gave a large sigh. "She is strong with the force, Hux, and I believe that I understand the situation more than you do." Kylo said, his rage bubbling just beneath the surface.

"Then wait until she sleeps! From my understanding of your illusive force you should be able to go into her scavenger mind and take what we need." Hux said agitatedly, he threw his hands in the air in an exasperated manner.

"Careful, Hux, it would be very easy to make a lightsaber wound look like a droid malfunction." Ren said as he held the lightsaber in question. Hux's features hardened.

"Are you threatening me?" Hux said, his eyes darting from his co-worker to the red lightsaber.

"I suppose I may be." Kylo said as he held the lightsaber in his hand, twirling it around his fingers idly.

"I would suggest, Ren, that you go and attend to your prisoner." Hux said as he gathered up his papers and stood up, his steel chair scraping loudly across the floor.

"Of course, General." Kylo said in a sardonic tone.

(===||===)

He reached the room as a Stormtrooper was just leaving it carrying an empty tray. The trooper stopped and saluted before carrying on. Kylo walked into the quiet room. Ahead of him was Rey, who was laying on her bed, sleeping peacefully.

He stood just over the threshold for a second, watching her sleep. She was peaceful. She snuffled a bit in her sleep. Her chest rose and fell evenly. She rolled onto her side. The door shut behind him and that brought him back to reality. He was Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren. He would not get infatuated with a girl, especially not of her lowly standard.

He walked quietly into the grey room, fearing he would wake here, though she was in such a deep slumber that was very unlikely. He stood at the foot of her bed (though you could hardly call it a bed), she looked beautiful. He had never seen her look this peaceful.

He knew that he could quite easily gaze at her all day but he had a job to do. He had to do it. He held out his hand and began to search in her mind. He was surprised at what he saw first.

He was in a desert. A young girl was crying, screaming at the sky, yelling. A humanoid was holding onto her small arm. The sun was blazing hot. The girl was screaming for her parents. The humanoid was trying to pull her away. Kylo looked up at the sky, a ship was flying away, it hit light speed and vanished. When he looked back at the girl, he noticed her distinctive hair, the three buns. He realised that this was Rey. She had been abandoned by her parents. He was watched as she was dragged down to Niima Outpost. She was screaming all the while. The scene changed.

She was scavenging on an abandoned star destroyer. She was walking down to her speeder when a group of people came up from behind her and grabbed her. The group was compiled of mainly men. They were grabbing at her, whispering in her ear. Her face showed fear and anger.

"Oh, aren't you pretty?" A man said in a low husky voice.

"Get. Away. From. Me." She said through gritted teeth. A man cackled behind her. She began to wriggle and squirm.

Kylo felt anger rise in him towards the men, he wanted to hurt them, he wanted to torture them. He began to start walking towards them when Rey started kicking and biting at them, she was like an enraged animal. A few moments later and the scene changed.

He did not like what he saw. He saw her on her bed, in what looked like an old AT-AT from the Imperial days. She was sleeping, she had been crying into her pillow. She was so lonely. So frightened. But she kept hope even in such a dire situation. He admired her for that.

He no longer felt comfortable looking into her mind. He didn't want to be there anymore. He no longer wanted to see her torment. He drew back and stood up straight. He was breathing heavily. His chest rising and falling. He knew he should continue looking into her mind, trying harder to find it. He did not care. He stood up quickly and strode to the door in long strides.

Once he heard the doors slide closed he leaned on the wall. He couldn't help but recall the day his mother sent him to Luke for Jedi training.

 _"_ _You're going to be fine, Ben, you know that right?" Leia was crouched before her son. Han stood behind her with his hand on Leia's shoulder._

 _"_ _I'm just going to miss you and daddy." He said quietly, a streams of tears were running down his face._

 _"_ _We can talk every month, I promise. And remember that your uncle Luke will be taking special care of you!" She said this with a small smile on her face that did not reach her sad eyes._

 _"_ _He's going to be fine, Leia. Aren't you son?" Han said confidently. "You little nerf herder." Leia gave a small laugh, Han ruffled his son's hair. Ben gave a small nod. "That's my boy." Han smiled._

 _"_ _Princess, it is time for Ben to go." A pilot called from the ramp of a ship. Leia nodded softly, forgetting to tell off the pilot for calling her Princess._

 _"_ _You be good, okay?" She smiled. "Come here." She brought him into a tight embrace. "Remember that mommy and daddy love you, okay?" Her voice cracked as she said it._

 _Ben pulled away and gave a small smile. He turned and walked up the ramp holding a small suitcase in his hands. He watched his parents as the ramp closed. Leia was hugging Han and while he stood there the ramp closed tight so he was staring into darkness._

(===||===)

Poe was sitting next to Finn's bed for the night. He had reported to Leia when they had returned earlier, she was not happy but she did not yell. She just was silently disappointed. Poe was slumped in a seat sleeping. BB-8 was next to him watching Finn.

BB-8 looked closer at Finn and then saw his eyelid twitch. BB-8's head swivelled from Poe to Finn multiple times. Finn began to stir. BB-8 began beeping quickly and loudly. Poe started to wake.

"Wh-what is it?" Poe stifling a yawn as he said it. BB-8 swivelled his head to Finn who was beginning to sit up, groaning incoherently. "Finn!" Poe flung himself forwards and looked at his friend. "You're okay..." He felt relief flood his body.

"What… what happened?" Finn looked drowsily at Poe.

"That nerf-herder Ren sliced you up with his lightsaber… you're lucky to be alive." Poe said calmly and quietly, still in shock about his friend. Finn looked around the room.

"Where's Rey?" Poe felt his heart sink. He looked at his friend solemnly. "Poe… _Where's Rey_?" He said sternly.

"Ren took her. A ravine formed between you and them and he took her." Poe said as he looked at the floor.

"That… That…" It was like Finn could not find a bad enough word to describe Kylo Ren. "Poe, we need to get her back."

"I know, buddy and I have a plan. You just rest up now and then when you're ready we can put the plan in action." Poe said as he plumped his friends pillow briefly.

"No, we ne-" Finn began to say but he was cut off.

"Rest." Poe said seriously. "Don't make me tell them to put you into another coma." He said in a sardonic tone. Finn looked like he was going to argue but he did not, he just laid his head down on the pillow.

(===||===)

 **Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this instalment!**

 **Is it just me or do you think that John Boyega will get a Bafta tonight? I think so, at least I hope so because I would love to see his acceptance speech.**

 **Happy valentine's day everyone! See you next week!]**

 **Days until Rogue One: 306 days**

 **Days until Episode VIII: 669 days**


	6. Infiltration

Kylo Ren lay in his dark bedroom on the Star Destroyer Finalizer. He was deep in thought, the only light came from far off planets and their stars which cast a dim glow over him. He could see a TIE-Fighter pass over his skylight. The room was cold and he had his covers pulled up to his chin almost like a child.

It had been nearly two weeks since the ordeal on Star Killer Base and they were stuck in a tireless routine of floating through the void of space. They were no closer to fixing the Hyper drive and they were still no closer to finding Skywalker or getting the map that would lead them to him. Each day Hux was becoming more insufferable. He seemed to think that Ren was not trying hard enough to get the map. That he had grown to care for the scavenger girl. Kylo Twisted onto his side, he could not help but hear the words of the Supreme Leader reverberating in his ears. _"_ _You have… Compassion for her?"_

He could not deny, to himself at least, that he had grown fond of the scavenger. During the interrogations and the times when he entered her mind, he had learned a lot about her. He had learned what a dangerous life she had led on the planet Jakku. One thing that intrigued him was that her memories didn't go back to the time before she was abandoned on the almost desolate planet Jakku. He could see no images of her parents. Her memories seemed to begin when she watched her parents leave. He could not help but wonder about the reason behind it. Maybe the memories were concealed using the force? It would explain how she had been unfamiliar with the force if her parents had taken her memories away but that would surely mean they were force users themselves.

Kylo lay in his bed for a while, waiting for un-consciousness to finally overcome him. He watched the Tie-Fighters fly past his window, each time they sped past he would count in his head, like a child counting sheep, attempting -unsuccessfully- to bring sleep.

It was maybe an hour later when something peculiar happened, the Tie-Fighters did not make their usual round. Kylo in his boredom had counted how many seconds it took for one of the two tie-fighters to make their way past his skylight. He lay waiting for a few minutes before he knew something was wrong. He could hear shooting from the Tie-Fighters. He did not move. The only sound was his own breathing and the sound of shots from above him. A red light quickly streaked across his window and illuminated his face for a second. He sat bolt upright.

Outside his room he could hear the clatter of Stormtrooper armour and their illegible mutterings. He briskly swung his legs off the bed and stood up. He strode over to his wardrobe and pulled his robes over his night garments. He quickly brushed his fingers through his hair to make it seem somewhat presentable. The door swung open as he walked towards it, he marched down the corridor to the control bay, in a seriously bad and tired mood.

(===||===)

Rey sat on her bed with the palm of her hand faced outwards at a piece of glass halfway across the room. She was attempting to bring it towards her. She could not deny that she was feeling a stronger connection with the force, maybe it was because of the practise she was doing or perhaps being in close proximity to another force user. She had a sudden thought and quickly redirected her hand to the heavy, dull metal doors ahead of her. She directed all her thoughts to trying to open the door. She could feel the Force moving through her, as if it were part of her very being. She could feel it coursing through her veins. She got to her feet and began to edge towards the door. Her bare feet cold on the metal floor.

As she advanced she could feel the force going through the air, she could feel it working. She was about a metre away from the door now. She tensed her fingers as if she were attempting to grab something that was not there. She opened her eyes and the door flew open. A small smile caressed her lips. She began to walk towards the open door when the white armour of a Stormtrooper met her. A small red and black droid was beside it holding a food tray.

"What do you think you're doing?" The Stormtrooper pushed her into the cell and shut the door briskly behind him. Rey stumbled backwards and landed on her bed. It quickly dawned on her that she was not the one who opened the door, he was. "Are you trying to get me killed? It looked like I was letting you out!" He was breathing heavily.

"Look… I'm sorry, okay? I can still try and escape, can't I?" Rey said in a slightly exasperated tone. She and the Stormtrooper had grown to become, if not friends, familiar with one another.

"Just eat your food… I need to get to my station, there is some Y-Wing outside and troopers are being ordered to their posts."

"Does Ren think that the Resistance is trying to bring us down?" She asked as she took a mouthful of plain bread.

"We haven't heard from him yet, but it is still early." The trooper said in a tired voice.

She had grown to learn many things about the Stormtrooper, and of Finn, during her time here. She had learned that they had been friends and that before Finn had escaped the two of them were hatching a plan to escape from the Order… Only Finn had taken matters into his own hands and had escaped with Poe. She learned that Finn was the leader of their training group and had been the best of them all, but he had always been a bit of a loner. She learned that the trooper had been snatched away from his family as a baby, just as Finn had been, and that they will never know him. She pitied him and all of the other Stormtroopers who were destined to live a life as a mindless solider in the war of the light and dark.

Rey gulped down her water and the picked at the crumbs that remained on the reflective plate. The Stormtrooper began to tap his foot on the floor, indicating for her to hurry up. She rolled her eyes slightly and held out the plate to him. He took it hurriedly and began to walk from the room. She watched him leave without another word. When he was on the other side of the door he nodded and the doors slammed shut to leave her to her own thoughts. _Y-Wing…_ She thought to herself. Somewhere in her heart she thought that it could be a rescue mission, but then, why would they come now? She had been there for a while -she did not know exactly how long due to having no sense of time- so why had they not come already.

She laid her head down on her grey lumpy pillow and listened to the sound of gun fire.

(===||===)

 _A few hours earlier…_

Poe had his helmet slung under his arm and was leaning against a wall. BB-8 was beside him silent, he just sat there looking at Poe. Finn had just been discharged from the medical bay and it was time for their flawlessly devised plan to be put into action. Finn was walking straighter every day and said that he was feeling much better. Poe knew that he was desperate to find Rey. Poe could not help but feel a small bit of envy towards Finn's feelings to Rey. He obviously cared so much about her.

Poe straightened up when Finn walked around the corner, he was slipping Poe's old flight jacket on and Poe could not help but subconsciously bite his lip in pleasure at seeing his friend. Finn saw Poe and nodded.

"You ready for this?" Poe said as Finn began to walk past him causing him to quicken his pace in order to keep beside him as they made their way to the hanger with BB-8 rolling beside them.

"As ready as I will ever be." Finn replied quickly, his voice conveyed how concerned he was about what they were about to do. Poe threw his hand across Finn's chest and turned him to face himself.

"You do know that we are going to be fine? Right? You have the best pilot in the resistance flying you." Poe flashed a small smile at Finn. Finn just shook his head. "I promise we will make it back, okay buddy?" Poe stressed the point, trying to take a small bit of stress from his friend.

"Yeah… Yeah we are going to be okay… We are going to be okay…" Finn's voice trailed off as he looked forwards. Poe turned his head to see what had made all the colour drain from his friend's face. General Leia Organa stood before them, with a look conveying that she was not impressed. Not in the slightest.

"What do you think you are doing out at such a late hour?" Leia said, her hands on her hips. Finn and Poe looked at the General like naughty children being caught sneaking out, which was really what they were.

"We were just going for a practice flight, General." Poe said, his voice was as good as a confession. Leia raised her eyebrows.

"You would tell me the truth… Wouldn't you Finn?" She aimed this attack at Finn who Poe knew when put under pressure was not the greatest liar.

"We…" His voice trailed off, he looked at Poe apologetically, Poe shook his head slightly, all the time Leia's eyes were flicking from one to the other. "We are going to get Rey." Finn said, his head hung low. Leia was silent for a second, Poe was waiting for her to regain her voice and send them straight back inside.

"You can go and get her…" Poe and Finn both looked up in surprise at her words.

"Really?" Poe said, searching her dark eyes for a trick of some sort, the general would never normally let an Y-Wing out of the hanger unless it was for patrols or a battle.

"Under one condition." Leia said. Poe stopped and felt his heart give a jolt, but before he could ask what her condition was, Finn had already answered.

"Anything." Finn said, he was slightly breathless from the excitement.

"You bring my son back. If you bring him back, I am sure… that if I talk to him… I just have to have hope that if I see him I can turn him back to the light." Her voice trailed off, there was undeniable sadness in her eyes, a look of someone who had lost everything. Poe could see out of the corner of his eye that the smile on Finn's face had slid off. "I'm going to go back inside ... It's up to you both now." The old woman walked back into the base. Finn and Poe watched her go, when she was safely out of hearing distance Finn broke into speech.

"We can't. We just can't. Kylo Ren is too far gone for anyone to bring him back, even his mother." Finn said as he shook his head.

"Finn…" Poe trailed off, he was looking at the ground.

"You cannot seriously be considering this?!" Finn said as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Hey, you want to get Rey back don't you? And right now, this seems like our only shot." Poe could see the sun just peaking over the horizon. "And if we are going to go, we better get going, and quick, before it becomes too light and people start waking up." Finn looked back at the resistance base and then at an Y-Wing.

"I'm going to regret this… but okay." Finn said in a low tone. "Let's get going." At with that they both began to run towards the Y-Wing with BB-8 beeping in a nervous manner as he rolled beside them.

(===||===)

"Would you like to remind me of what exactly our plan was again?" Finn said from the gunner position behind the Poe's seat. Finn's voice cracked slight, Poe could tell that he was nervous and was doubting the hours that they had spent putting into their plan.

The blue and white lights from the light speed tunnel illuminated the cockpit. Poe coolly replied, "We are going to get to the Finalizer and fly around it, and hopefully they will have some common sense and bring us in. Once they bring us in they will take us to a holding cell where we convince them to bring Rey and then …."

Finn interrupted, despair laced through his voice, "And this is all just based on hope and a prayer right? Because they may already have the map to Skywalker and may already have killed her".

"Hey, from what I have heard about her from you she is one hell of a fighter. They won't have the map, I promise you." Poe could feel doubt begin to cloud his vision but he ignored it as best he could. "Coming out of light speed in three, two, one." Poe quickly tapped a bright green button and the blue and white lights disappeared, replaced by the menacing silhouette of the Star Destroyer Finalizer.

"And now we just circle it?" Finn said doubtfully.

"Maybe take out a few Tie-Fighters while we do it." Poe said playfully.

 _Meanwhile…_

Kylo was walking in long strides towards the control room where he could imagine Hux pacing back and forth. The doors flew open and Kylo walked inside the room and he was not disappointed. The general was yelling orders at a young tech. Kylo walked towards the ginger man.

"Why, pray tell, is there a resistance ship still flying? Surely your soldiers are capable enough to destroy a, oh look, it's a Y-Wing." The spacecraft flew across the wide windscreen of the Star Destroyer.

"We have just got images of the pilot and the gunner, we are now trying to bring them in." Hux said, he was not looking at Kylo but out of the bay window at the spiralling and barrel rolling Y-Wing.

"And who are they, the Pilot and the gunner, and why do they warrant such _special treatment_?" He put a cruel twist on the last words. Hux continued to look out of the window.

"It is the Resistance Pilot we caught some time ago and FN-Two-One-Eight-Seven. I believe they are here in an attempt to rescue your little play thing." Hux said with contempt in his voice. A small smile crept onto the Generals lips when he saw the anger visibly begin to rise in his co-worker.

"Why are we capturing them? Why don't we just kill them?" Kylo said through gritted teeth, his fingernails digging into his palms. He could remember the last time he and the traitor had come face to face. He felt a wave of anger that the blows he inflicted on the back were not enough to kill the deserter, it did not appear they were even enough to put him out of action.

"Ren, this is why I am the General, since you are not having any luck with the scavenger I think that maybe threatening her friends may finally get some answers from her." Hux said barely containing the smug smile on his face. "And, rest assured Ren, you will have your pleasure in killing them ALL after we are done with them." Hux said happily. Kylo was not convinced and was about to voice his concerns when a tech nearby called for Hux.

Poe made a dangerous manoeuvre to dodge some red beams of light. Poe was concerned that the First order were still shooting at them, he was beginning to doubt his plan and was contemplating whether to go back into light speed. Then the control panel went dead. A smile graced Poe's features as he turned to look behind him. BB-8 was beeping in a concerned manner.

"You know what to do BeeBee-Eight, you need to hide and when the ship has been cleared you need to find the cooking droids." The droid beeped again, he sounded uncertain, that was for sure. "You will be fine; you just need to go hide … now." The droid looked at his master for another few seconds before retreating into the ship. Poe turned to look at Finn. "No going back now, buddy." Poe said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I guess so." Finn said darkly. They were being brought deeper and deeper into the hull of the Finalizer. Poe sat back in his seat and put his hands behind his head, in an almost lazy manner.

(===||===)

Rey assumed that there would be no interrogation today. With the appearance of the Y-Wing she assumed Ren would be busy torturing the new prisoners, so she was surprised when the doors swung open to reveal a ginger haired man wearing a black hat that carried the First Order's emblem. He was flanked by four Stormtroopers.

"What-" Rey began to speak but she was cut off.

"Grab her." The General said in a commanding tone. Rey frowned and tried kicking at the white armoured, faceless troops.

"Hey! Get off me!" She kicked and scratched … all thoughts of the Force forgotten as she instinctively went back to her tried and tested ways of surviving.

Two Stormtroopers grabbed her and held their blasters to her arms and another one pointed one to her head. The General walked ahead of them.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked in as strong a voice as she could muster.

"You'll see." The General replied blankly.

They walked down many corridors, Rey tried to map out where she was going but she soon lost track of the right turns and the left turns as they all melted into one long journey. Eventually they entered a long corridor which resembled the old Imperial design. They marched forward, by a door stood Kylo Ren, he had his hand clasped around his lightsaber. Rey looked at him imploringly and even tried to reach out to him with the force, but to no avail. They were just outside the door now. Rey could feel a ball of anxiety steadily begin to grow inside her. The General turned to face her and gave a small smirk as he turned back to the door. He placed his hand on the key pad and the doors flew open. He and Ren walking into the brightly lit room.

She felt her stomach drop. Inside the room were Finn and another man, someone that she assumed was Poe. They were kneeling on the ground with their hands bound.

"Rey!" Finn cried as he tried to get up but a Stormtrooper behind him kicked him back down. One white armoured figure stood behind Finn and another one behind Poe. Rey watched, she could feel terror begin to cloud her vision.

"Now, Rey." She heard the voice in her ear, it made her skin prickle. "The map." As she watched the two Stormtroopers held their blasters to her friend's heads. She looked at Finn's face as it melded into one of terror and Poe just knelt there, looking at Finn.

"The map, or your friends die."

(===||===)

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **I hope you all had a good week, at school or not at school, and if you're sick (lots of it about) I hope you get better soon.**

 **Thank you all for tuning in this week and until next time, bye!**

 **Days until Rogue One: 299 days**

 **Days until Episode VIII: 662 days**


	7. A Decision

Rey stood there watching, waiting. Finn was looking imploringly at her, as if silently pleading with her while Poe was looking defiantly at their captors; he was challenging them to do it. Rey knew that if the flame haired General did give the order the two Stormtroopers would do it, without hesitation. She had never been put under this sort of strain before, not even on Jakku because there she had kept herself to herself, she had no attachments to anyone on that junk-yard of the planet.

"Make a decision, Rey. One way or another we _will_ get the map, but if you agree now you save your friends. If not… well it will get a lot messier that it needs to be" Hux said in a cool voice that conveyed an un-nerving calmness.

"What would happen if I did give you the map. You would just kill my friends anyway and me along with them." Rey countered the General. Kylo Ren stood silent watching the traitor, his rage bubbling close to the surface, he had his hand gripped around his dark steel lightsaber, ready to ignite it at any moment.

"Well, your friends would remain prisoners of war on our ship until the repairs on the Hyper drive are complete, when that inevitably happens we will take them to a planet on the outer-rim, safely away from the rebel base." Hux said in a bored voice.

"What about me? What will happen to me?" Rey had noticed that he had left her name out of his plan for the prisoners.

"That is not my decision to make." Hux said as his eyes flicked to Kylo who was stood silently looking at the prisoners. Rey looked at Ren's tall stature, she tried to reach out with the force, she tried to talk to him, but he had put a block so she could not telekinetically communicate with him.

Poe looked at the girl in front of him, she had the chance to save both him and Finn but also had the power to sign their death sentences. He could feel the panic begin to radiate from Finn. Poe knew that Finn was doubting their plan, doubting him. After all, this was Luke Skywalker they were talking about. She would be giving away the location not just of someone who could lead them to him, but the actual map to find the legend himself. The man who, it was said, would be the end of the First Order.

"If I did agree, only if I did, I want to share a cell with them until they leave?" Rey said, she thought she knew the answer already but it was worth asking. A small smile curled the Generals lips, he knew that they had won.

"No, I am afraid not." Hux could remember Ren explicitly saying that if they did get the map from her she should be kept in solitary confinement.

"Then I want daily meetings with them, to make sure that you or your troopers haven't done anything to them." Rey said in a commanding tone. "And, what's more, I would like one now." She added quickly.

"So I assume this is you accepting our offer?" Hux said in a superior tone. Rey nodded, she could feel the sadness, disappointment and failure begin to cloud her senses, she was already doubting her decision. Kylo could feel the sadness emanating off her, he wanted to reach out, console her, tell her that she had made the right decision. He did not.

Hux nodded his head to the two Stormtroopers who were stood behind Poe and Finn, they lowered their blasters and walked around the two prisoners and both walked out of the door, but not before saluting their superiors.

"You made the right decision." Hux put a hand on Rey's shoulder, Rey scowled at him and shrugged off his hand. She was about to retort when the ginger haired general spoke again. "You get fifteen minutes before you will be taken to your cell and the memory will be extracted by Ren." The General held out a hand and inclined his head to the door indicating that Ren was to leave before he did. Evidently Hux did not trust Ren to control his temper with the prisoners, particularly the traitor, if he was left alone with them.

As soon as the doors closed Finn jumped up and threw his arms around Rey in a tight hug, it took a moment for Rey to return it, she was exhausted and in a state of shock at what she had just done. Poe got to his feet and was standing lazily leaning against a wall, it was evident that he was at the very least momentarily relieved as he let out a long exhale of breath.

"That was a close one, for a second there I thought that you weren't going to give up the map." Poe said coolly. Rey frowned and removed herself from Finns tight embrace.

"So you came here, risking your lives, assuming that I hadn't already given the map up just so you two could be used as emotional blackmail by them in order to get it? I don't get it? What if I didn't give in? Huh? What if I thought that the map was more important than your lives?" Rey countered, she felt enraged by their stupidity.

"Calm it, the point is that you didn't! This is a rescues mission, and we have already got inside the enemy ship and now all we need to do is get out!" Poe said flippantly. Rey looked at him incredulously. She could not believe that they had come here, let alone that he was taking the situation so lightly.

"I assume you have a plan; you _have_ to have a plan." Rey said as she looked at Finn who shrugged so she looked back to Poe.

"I do, I haven't elaborated it with Finn yet because I knew he was nervous about coming." Poe said with a small smile towards Finn.

"Well, out with it then." Rey said flatly, her hand on her hip, her stance was so reminiscent of Leia Organa that Finn was surprised the Poe did not recoil.

"Well, the plan is, is that you need to be-friend a Stormtrooper, make him see the ways of the Resistance and see how corrupted the First Order is. After you do that He will come to our cell with BB-8 who should already be stationed with the droids who deliver the food to the prisoners i.e. us." Poe took a breath. Finn was frowning now.

"That won't be possible… All the Stormtroopers are practically brain washed. Before I left I was trying to turn a few of them around but I didn't get very far" Finn said sadly.

"Well, amazingly, I am already half way there with that. Someone who was in your training group, Finn. FN-3824, ring any bells?" Rey asked him interestedly. Finn turned a deep shade of red. Rey looked at him, curious of her friend's peculiar behaviour.

"Carry on with the plan, Poe" Finn said as he stared at the floor.

"When we are ready, the Stormtrooper along with BB-8 will come to our cell first, he'll bring with him some white Stormtrooper armour that we will put it on, we will leave the cell with him and then come along to your cell with another spare suit. You suit up too and then we steal a couple Tie's and then we're gone!" Poe said with a flourishing smile. Rey's mouth was open in disbelief; she could not believe how deluded this man was.

"But where does Ren fit into all this?" Finn asked in a low voice.

"What do you mean, 'where does Ren fit into this'?" Rey snapped quickly, looking from Finn to Poe.

"Well, the only reason we are here is because General Organa gave us permission to on one condition ..." Poe said and his voice trailed out. Rey was still looking from Poe to Finn.

"Can someone tell me what Ren has to do with this?" Rey said impatiently.

"Well as Poe said, there was one condition to our coming. We have to take her back her son" Finn said quietly.

Rey threw her arms up in exasperation. They could not be serious, they couldn't be. Even his own father could not do that? It was an impossible feat. And even if there was some hope that he could be brought back to the light by his mother, how were they supposed to get him on a Tie fighter to get him to his mother?

"Even if it were possible, how do you propose we do it?" Rey questioned, she was still in shock and was far too exhausted to be having this argument.

"Well, I was thinking you could work your womanly magic and seduce him-" Poe was cut off by a low growl from Rey.

"So somehow, you expect me to seduce the leader of the Knights of Ren, and then what? I just suggest we escape the First Order and run home to mummy-dearest?" Rey said sardonically with her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"No. You use the force to knock him out and then you tell him that he had some sort of accident and that he needs medical attention immediately, so you take him to a Tie Fighter, throw him in and hey presto, back home to D'Qar." Poe clapped his hands contently. Rey rolled her eyes at him and Finn still looked uncertain.

"You're insane." Rey said flatly. "This is just like some half-baked idea Han and Chewie would have come up with! But as we have no other option now I guess I'll do it, or at least give it a go. _Only_ because we have no other option, not because I have some twisted desire to have Kylo Ren." Rey said ... just to clarify.

They stood there in silence for a second or two, just looking at one another, Poe was breathing heavily from all the talking he had done, Finn was sitting on the floor leaning against a wall, his cheeks still had a mild red tint to them and then there was Rey, who was pale with exhaustion with dark circles under her eyes. Finn had no idea what she had been through being here and, if he was honest, did not to find out. After about a minute the steel doors swung open and General Hux strode in while Kylo Ren stood on the threshold closely watching the traitor, hatred pulsing through his veins.

"Times up. Now Rey, would you please follow Ren to your cell and the memory extraction will begin shortly." the man held out his arm to the door, an indication for Rey to leave, before she did she looked back to Finn and Poe, Finn gave a weak smile while Poe, sitting next to him, gave a brief nod. Rey left the room without another word.

She walked along the twisting and turning corridors for what felt like an age, she walked next to the Knight of Ren, her hand would occasionally brush his, she did not snatch it away as she would but she left her hand there, she might as well start now. She did not even know if he had feelings towards her, he might recoil from her but something in her told her he wouldn't. They eventually reached her cell. Hux stood outside while Kylo escorted Rey inside.

Rey quickly walked to her bed and sat on the corner. She could remember her first day on the Finalizer, how she had sworn to herself that she would never give up the map, but now here she was, willingly give it to the enemies. She felt shame ensue her. She looked up at his dark eyes and wondered if they were ever going to get him back from the dark side. He was standing maybe two feet away from her now looking into her face.

"I give you my word, I will not look into any other memories I only want the map." He said in a genuine, low voice. Rey let out a small cold laugh. Kylo frowned ever so slightly.

"Just get on with it." Rey said flatly. She was blinking slowly now, her eye lids drooping. All her mental defences were down. She was ready.

He held out a hand towards her face and began to make his way through her memories. The map was easy to locate without her putting up defences and fighting him. He could see it; he could see precisely where his uncle was. The last Jedi. He could make out the room and his father standing amongst a muddle of planets, he could see the traitor, he could see Rey. Her features were transfixed with wonder and curiosity at the map, almost like a child. He dragged himself out of her mind.

She was sitting there with her head in her hands, the sadness and self-loathing emanating from her in waves. He knew he had to leave, but he somehow felt he had to console her first. He bent down close to her head and whispered in her ear.

"You made the right choice." Then he stood up and with one last glance at the scavenger girl he left her to her own loneliness and hatred.

(===||===)

 **Thank you all for reading this instalment!**

 **I am really sorry if there are any typos or grammar mistakes, I was out late last night watching Twenty-One Pilots (great show) so I woke up quite late today but I felt like I needed to give you something!**

 **Thank you for reading and good-bye!**

 **Day's until Rogue One: 292 days**

 **Days until Episode VIII: 655 days**


End file.
